*Officers sleeping over decisions taken in first meeting
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 2: Contrary to the tall claims of the PDP-BJP Coalition Government about laying required focus on development of rural areas, no serious attention is being paid towards ensuring effective monitoring and implementation of numerous schemes floated by the Centre in the rural development sector. This can be gauged from the uncertain fate of the State Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, which was constituted albeit after inordinate delay on the directions of the Union Government.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that in order to ensure effective supervision, vigilance and monitoring of various programmes meant for development of rural areas and improving socio-economic condition of rural population, the Union Ministry of Rural Development issued guidelines for strict compliance by all the States several years back.
Under these guidelines, stress was laid on constitution of State Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee headed by Minister for Rural Development of the State to effectively liaise and coordinate with the Union Ministry. It was explicitly mentioned in the guidelines that such a committee would monitor the flow of funds through various channels including allocations, releases, utilization and unspent balances.
The objective behind setting up of committee was to ensure that all the schemes are implemented in accordance with the guidelines and to look into the complaints in respect of the implementation of programmes including misappropriation or diversion of funds and above all to ensure that programme benefits flow to the rural people in full measure.
After inordinate delay, the General Administration Department of the J&K vide Order No.910 dated August 16, 2016 constituted State Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee to supervise, exercise vigilance and monitor the implementation of programmes of Union Rural Development Ministry and consider evaluation reports, area officers reports and National Rural Livelihood Mission reports and take necessary follow-up action and corrective measures wherever required.
One Member of Rajya Sabha and four Members of Lok Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir besides five Members of Legislative Assembly and some non-official persons were made members of the committee.
The first meeting of the State Level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee was held on November 28, 2016 but one only Member of Parliament and few Members of Legislative Assembly participated in the proceedings. In unanimous voice, those who attended the meeting including Chairman—Minister for Rural Development Abdul Haq Khan dubbed the committee an effective platform to ensure accountability in implementation of schemes.
It was decided in the meeting that comments will be invited from all the members of the committee as well as officers of the concerned departments about status of the implementation of schemes, hurdles if any and relaxations in the guidelines required to be proposed to the Union Government keeping in view the topography of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, despite lapse of over five months neither the minutes of the meeting were officially recorded nor comments received from all the concerned quarters, sources said, adding “moreover, no serious effort was made to convene another meeting of the Vigilance and Monitoring Committee which otherwise was imperative so as to ensure strict follow-up action on the decisions taken in the first meeting”.
An officer of the Rural Development Department told EXCELSIOR on the condition of anonymity that the draft of the minutes of the meeting was prepared but the same could not be finalized because of frequent transfer of Administrative Secretary of the department, who happens to be Member Secretary of the committee.
“Even without receiving copy of the minutes of the meeting the concerned quarters should have sent comments on different aspects of the programmes of the Rural Development Ministry”, he said, adding “it seems that importance of Vigilance and Monitoring Committee is being undermined by those whose comments were invited by the Chairman”.
All this clearly indicates that claims about paying required attention towards development of rural areas are aimed at befooling the masses otherwise non-serious approach should not have been adopted towards this vital platform, sources remarked.
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